The self-storage market in Hawaiʻi is growing. Companies are making deals to put more facilities across the state.
A lot of the real estate deals for self-storage facilities in Hawaiʻi involve mainland investors and large national self-storage companies.
For example, U-Haul has plans for new self-storage buildings on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu. On Maui, New Mexico-based DXD Capital is opening a new facility this year in Kīhei. The company also has a long-term ground lease with Alexander and Baldwin for another facility in Kahului.
But local self-storage operators are looking to expand too. Guardian Self-Storage is planning to add new facilities in two locations on Kauaʻi.
The company last year bought the Waipouli Town Center in Kapaʻa from A&B and plans to turn an old Foodland store there into self-storage.
The former supermarket will become a three-story self-storage building with 700 units.
Guardian is also adding another building to its Kalapaki facility in Līhuʻe.
Guardian General Manager Thomas Lambert said he thinks the mainland companies will broaden the market because they’re adding availability in response to demand.
He said Guardian is not frightened by the competition because there’s room for it.
However, he said his company’s expansion plans could run into barriers that might not exist for the big competitors. That’s because of upfront costs for land and construction.
It’s not just expensive for the companies. Hawaiʻi consumers pay some of the highest rates in the nation to store their stuff.
In fact, StorageCafe recently said that when it comes to self-storage, Honolulu has the third-highest rates in the U.S.
